Animals

 

 

 

Vocabulary covered in video lesson:

Romaji	English	Hiragana	Kanji
animal(s)	doubutsu	どうぶつ	動物
neko	cat	ねこ	猫
inu	dog	いぬ	犬
nezumi	mouse	ねずみ	鼠
ushi	cow	うし	牛
saru	monkey	さる	猿
kuma	bear	くま	熊
ahiru	duck	あひる	家鴨
usagi	rabbit	うさぎ	兎
tora	tiger	とら	虎
niwatori	chicken	にわとり	鶏
tori	bird	とり	鳥
shika	deer	しか	鹿
iruka	dolphin	いるか	海豚
uma	horse	うま	馬
buta	pig	ぶた	豚
sakana	fish	さかな	魚
ookami	wolf	おおかみ	狼
kitsune	fox	きつね	狐
kirin	giraffe	きりん	麒麟
zou	elephant	ぞう	象
kaeru	frog	かえる	蛙
hebi	snake	へび	蛇
raion	lion	ライオン (katakana)

• The word niwatori (chicken) is made up of two words:
   niwa = garden  +   tori = bird 
  So the literal meaning of “niwatori” is: Garden bird (Makes sense huh?)

 

• There are two ways to say lion in Japanese, one is known as the borrowed form meaning it is inspired from the English language and one is the native form meaning the original Japanese word before western or English influence.
   raion (Borrowed form)
   shishi (Native form)“shishi” is the original way to say ‘lion’ in Japanese but over time “raion” has replaced it’s usage in everyday spoken Japanese because of the popularity of the English language.

 

• Words that are borrowed from the English language such as “raion (lion)” are never written in Hiragana OR Kanji, they are written only using “Katakana” characters since Katakana characters were created solely for borrowed English words. (Click here to learn about the 3 writing systems used in the Japanese language)

After watching the video lesson you must be saying to yourself  “but sensei, you forgot to teach us how to say squirrel!”…………….

 

 

Japanese Animal Vocabulary Continued

Animal	Romaji	English	Hiragana	Kanji
	risu	squirrel	りす	栗鼠
	fukurou	owl	ふくろう	梟
	chou	butterfly	ちょう	蝶
	wani	crocodile, alligator	わに	鰐
	kujira	whale	くじら	鯨
	katatsumuri	snail	かたつむり	蝸牛
	rakuda	camel	らくだ	駱駝
	koumori	bat	こうもり	蝙蝠
	same	shark	さめ	鮫
	yagi	goat	やぎ	山羊
	kame	turtle	かめ	亀
	rama	llama	ラマ(katakana)
	ari	ant	あり	蟻
	kangarū	kangaroo	カンガルー(katakana)
	chītā	cheetah	チーター(katakana)
	pengin	penguin	ペンギン (katakana)
	rama	llama	ラマ (katakana)
	ka	mosquito	か	蚊
	tako	octopus	たこ	蛸
	hato	pigeon	はと	鳩
	rakuun	raccoon	ラクーン
	mitsubachi	bee	みつばち	蜜蜂
	kani	crab	かに	蟹
	tentoumushi	ladybug	てんとうむし
	shimauma	zebra	しまうま	縞馬
	hotaru	firefly	ほたる	蛍
	kawauso	sea otter	かわうそ	川獺
	ebi	shrimp	えび	海老
	namakemono	sloth	ナマケモノ (katakana)
	sai	rhinoceros	さい	犀
	koara	koala	コアラ